1
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Pearson C, Sbonias K, Tzachili I, Heaton TJ. Olive shrub buried on Therasia supports a mid-16th century BCE date for the Thera eruption. Sci Rep 2023; 13:6994. [PMID: 37117199 PMCID: PMC10147620 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33696-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The precise date of the 2nd millennium BCE ("Minoan") eruption of Thera (Santorini) has long been a focus of controversy due to a discrepancy between archaeological and radiocarbon-based dating of materials from stratigraphic layers above and below tsunami, ash and pumice deposits resulting from the eruption. A critical, though controversial, piece of evidence has been four segments of a radiocarbon-dated olive tree branch, buried on Thera during the eruption. Here we report new radiocarbon evidence from an olive shrub found carbonized by the same eruption deposits on neighboring Therasia (Santorini). The Therasia olive shrub dates slightly younger than the previous olive branch. Calibrated results and growth increment counts indicate increased probabilities for a mid-16th century BCE date for the eruption, overlapping with multiple volcanic sulfate markers from ice core records.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Pearson
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, 1215 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, 85721, USA.
- Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1040 E. 4th Street, Arizona, 85721, USA.
- Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1009 E. South Campus, Arizona, 85721, USA.
| | - Kostas Sbonias
- Department of History, Ionian University, I. Theotoki 72, 49100, Corfu, Greece
| | - Iris Tzachili
- Department of History and Archaeology, University of Crete, A. Papandreou str., 74100, Rethymnon, Greece
| | - Timothy J Heaton
- Department of Statistics, School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
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2
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Lespez L, Lescure S, Saulnier-Copard S, Glais A, Berger JF, Lavigne F, Pearson C, Virmoux C, Müller Celka S, Pomadère M. Discovery of a tsunami deposit from the Bronze Age Santorini eruption at Malia (Crete): impact, chronology, extension. Sci Rep 2021; 11:15487. [PMID: 34326405 PMCID: PMC8322394 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94859-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
A geomorphological survey immediately west of the Minoan town of Malia (Crete) shows that a tsunami resulting from the Bronze Age Santorini eruption reached the outskirts of the Palatial center. Sediment cores testify a unique erosional event during the Late Minoan period, followed locally by a high energy sand unit comprising marine fauna. This confirms that a tsunami impacted northern Crete and caused an inundation up to 400 m inland at Malia. We obtained a radiocarbon range of 1744-1544 BCE for the secure pre-tsunami context and an interval 1509-1430 BCE for the post-event layer. Examination of tsunami deposits was used to constrain run-up not exceeding 8 m asl. The results open the field for new research on the Bronze Age Santorini tsunami regarding both impact and consequences for the Minoan civilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Lespez
- Laboratoire de Géographie Physique CNRS, LGP UMR 8591, Meudon, France. .,Univ Paris Est Creteil, 94010, Créteil, France. .,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.
| | - Séverine Lescure
- Laboratoire de Géographie Physique CNRS, LGP UMR 8591, Meudon, France
| | | | - Arthur Glais
- Laboratoire de Géographie Physique CNRS, LGP UMR 8591, Meudon, France
| | | | - Franck Lavigne
- Laboratoire de Géographie Physique CNRS, LGP UMR 8591, Meudon, France.,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.,Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institut de Géographie, Paris, France
| | - Charlotte Pearson
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.,Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Clément Virmoux
- Laboratoire de Géographie Physique CNRS, LGP UMR 8591, Meudon, France
| | | | - Maia Pomadère
- ArScAn CNRS, Univ Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 75005, Paris, France
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3
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Virtual Geosite Communication through a WebGIS Platform: A Case Study from Santorini Island (Greece). APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/app11125466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We document and show a state-of-the-art methodology that could allow geoheritage sites (geosites) to become accessible to scientific and non-scientific audiences through immersive and non-immersive virtual reality applications. This is achieved through a dedicated WebGIS platform, particularly handy in communicating geoscience during the COVID-19 era. For this application, we selected nine volcanic outcrops in Santorini, Greece. The latter are mainly associated with several geological processes (e.g., dyking, explosive, and effusive eruptions). In particular, they have been associated with the famous Late Bronze Age (LBA) eruption, which made them ideal for geoheritage popularization objectives since they combine scientific and educational purposes with geotourism applications. Initially, we transformed these stunning volcanological outcrops into geospatial models—the so called virtual outcrops (VOs) here defined as virtual geosites (VGs)—through UAV-based photogrammetry and 3D modeling. In the next step, we uploaded them on an online platform that is fully accessible for Earth science teaching and communication. The nine VGs are currently accessible on a PC, a smartphone, or a tablet. Each one includes a detailed description and plenty of annotations available for the viewers during 3D exploration. We hope this work will be regarded as a forward model application for Earth sciences’ popularization and make geoheritage open to the scientific community and the lay public.
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4
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Manning SW, Wacker L, Büntgen U, Bronk Ramsey C, Dee MW, Kromer B, Lorentzen B, Tegel W. Radiocarbon offsets and old world chronology as relevant to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia and Thera (Santorini). Sci Rep 2020; 10:13785. [PMID: 32807792 PMCID: PMC7431540 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-69287-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The new IntCal20 radiocarbon record continues decades of successful practice by employing one calibration curve as an approximation for different regions across the hemisphere. Here we investigate three radiocarbon time-series of archaeological and historical importance from the Mediterranean-Anatolian region, which indicate, or may include, offsets from IntCal20 (~0-22 14C years). While modest, these differences are critical for our precise understanding of historical and environmental events across the Mediterranean Basin and Near East. Offsets towards older radiocarbon ages in Mediterranean-Anatolian wood can be explained by a divergence between high-resolution radiocarbon dates from the recent generation of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) versus dates from previous technologies, such as low-level gas proportional counting (LLGPC) and liquid scintillation spectrometry (LSS). However, another reason is likely differing growing season lengths and timings, which would affect the seasonal cycle of atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations recorded in different geographic zones. Understanding and correcting these offsets is key to the well-defined calendar placement of a Middle Bronze Age tree-ring chronology. This in turn resolves long-standing debate over Mesopotamian chronology in the earlier second millennium BCE. Last but not least, accurate dating is needed for any further assessment of the societal and environmental impact of the Thera/Santorini volcanic eruption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sturt W Manning
- Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory, Department of Classics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | - Lukas Wacker
- Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ulf Büntgen
- Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EN, UK.,Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.,Global Change Research Institute CAS, 603 00, Brno, Czech Republic.,Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Christopher Bronk Ramsey
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3TG, UK
| | - Michael W Dee
- Centre for Isotope Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 6, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bernd Kromer
- Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Brita Lorentzen
- Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory, Department of Classics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Willy Tegel
- Chair of Forest Growth and Dendroecology, Institute of Forest Sciences, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Archaeological Service Kanton Thurgau (AATG), 8510, Frauenfeld, Switzerland
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5
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Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:14038-14041. [PMID: 32513700 PMCID: PMC7321958 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1921301117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The problem with radiocarbon dating is that its resolution is only centennial or, at the very best, decadal. Thus, the method is incapable of resolving many historical problems. Here, we use recent developments in atmospheric science to date the construction of a renowned archaeological site to the exact year, in fact, to the exact season. Such precision opens up new possibilities for the broader study of human history. Achieving dates on an annual scale will offer the potential for new assessments to be made of considerable archaeological significance. Inadequate resolution is the principal limitation of radiocarbon dating. However, recent work has shown that exact-year precision is attainable if use can be made of past increases in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration or so-called Miyake events. Here, this nascent method is applied to an archaeological site of previously unknown age. We locate the distinctive radiocarbon signal of the year 775 common era (CE) in wood from the base of the Uyghur monument of Por-Bajin in Russia. Our analysis shows that the construction of Por-Bajin started in the summer of 777 CE, a foundation date that resolves decades of debate and allows the origin and purpose of the building to be established.
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6
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Manning SW, Kromer B, Cremaschi M, Dee MW, Friedrich R, Griggs C, Hadden CS. Mediterranean radiocarbon offsets and calendar dates for prehistory. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaaz1096. [PMID: 32206721 PMCID: PMC7080444 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz1096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
A single Northern Hemisphere calibration curve has formed the basis of radiocarbon dating in Europe and the Mediterranean for five decades, setting the time frame for prehistory. However, as measurement precision increases, there is mounting evidence for some small but substantive regional (partly growing season) offsets in same-year radiocarbon levels. Controlling for interlaboratory variation, we compare radiocarbon data from Europe and the Mediterranean in the second to earlier first millennia BCE. Consistent with recent findings in the second millennium CE, these data suggest that some small, but critical, periods of variation for Mediterranean radiocarbon levels exist, especially associated with major reversals or plateaus in the atmospheric radiocarbon record. At high precision, these variations potentially affect calendar dates for prehistory by up to a few decades, including, for example, Egyptian history and the much-debated Thera/Santorini volcanic eruption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sturt W. Manning
- Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory, Department of Classics, B-48 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Bernd Kromer
- Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mauro Cremaschi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio,” Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Festa del Perdono 7, 20122 Milano, Italy
| | - Michael W. Dee
- Centre for Isotope Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 6, NL-9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Ronny Friedrich
- Curt-Engelhorn-Center Archaeometry gGmbH, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Carol Griggs
- Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory, Department of Classics, B-48 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Carla S. Hadden
- Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, 120 Riverbend Rd., Athens, GA 30602, USA
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7
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Baker BJ, Crane-Kramer G, Dee MW, Gregoricka LA, Henneberg M, Lee C, Lukehart SA, Mabey DC, Roberts CA, Stodder ALW, Stone AC, Winingear S. Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 171 Suppl 70:5-41. [PMID: 31956996 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Syphilis was perceived to be a new disease in Europe in the late 15th century, igniting a debate about its origin that continues today in anthropological, historical, and medical circles. We move beyond this age-old debate using an interdisciplinary approach that tackles broader questions to advance the understanding of treponemal infection (syphilis, yaws, bejel, and pinta). How did the causative organism(s) and humans co-evolve? How did the related diseases caused by Treponema pallidum emerge in different parts of the world and affect people across both time and space? How are T. pallidum subspecies related to the treponeme causing pinta? The current state of scholarship in specific areas is reviewed with recommendations made to stimulate future work. Understanding treponemal biology, genetic relationships, epidemiology, and clinical manifestations is crucial for vaccine development today and for investigating the distribution of infection in both modern and past populations. Paleopathologists must improve diagnostic criteria and use a standard approach for recording skeletal lesions on archaeological human remains. Adequate contextualization of cultural and environmental conditions is necessary, including site dating and justification for any corrections made for marine or freshwater reservoir effects. Biogeochemical analyses may assess aquatic contributions to diet, physiological changes arising from treponemal disease and its treatments (e.g., mercury), or residential mobility of those affected. Shifting the focus from point of origin to investigating who is affected (e.g., by age/sex or socioeconomic status) and disease distribution (e.g., coastal/ inland, rural/urban) will advance our understanding of the treponemal disease and its impact on people through time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda J Baker
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Gillian Crane-Kramer
- Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, New York
| | - Michael W Dee
- Centre for Isotope Research, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Lesley A Gregoricka
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama
| | - Maciej Henneberg
- Biological Anthropology and Comparative Anatomy Unit, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.,Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christine Lee
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Sheila A Lukehart
- Department of Medicine/Infectious Diseases and Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - David C Mabey
- Communicable Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | | | - Ann L W Stodder
- Office of Archaeological Studies, The Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico
| | - Anne C Stone
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Stevie Winingear
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
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8
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Manning SW, Birch J, Conger MA, Dee MW, Griggs C, Hadden CS, Hogg AG, Ramsey CB, Sanft S, Steier P, Wild EM. Radiocarbon re-dating of contact-era Iroquoian history in northeastern North America. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaav0280. [PMID: 30525108 PMCID: PMC6281431 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav0280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
A time frame for late Iroquoian prehistory is firmly established on the basis of the presence/absence of European trade goods and other archeological indicators. However, independent dating evidence is lacking. We use 86 radiocarbon measurements to test and (re)define existing chronological understanding. Warminster, often associated with Cahiagué visited by S. de Champlain in 1615-1616 CE, yields a compatible radiocarbon-based age. However, a well-known late prehistoric site sequence in southern Ontario, Draper-Spang-Mantle, usually dated ~1450-1550, yields much later radiocarbon-based dates of ~1530-1615. The revised time frame dramatically rewrites 16th-century contact-era history in this region. Key processes of violent conflict, community coalescence, and the introduction of European goods all happened much later and more rapidly than previously assumed. Our results suggest the need to reconsider current understandings of contact-era dynamics across northeastern North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sturt W. Manning
- Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory, Department of Classics, B-48 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Jennifer Birch
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250A Baldwin Hall, Jackson Street, Athens, GA 30602-1619, USA
| | - Megan A. Conger
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250A Baldwin Hall, Jackson Street, Athens, GA 30602-1619, USA
| | - Michael W. Dee
- Centre for Isotope Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 6, NL-9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Carol Griggs
- Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory, Department of Classics, B-48 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Carla S. Hadden
- Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, 120 Riverbend Rd, Athens, GA 30602-4702, USA
| | - Alan G. Hogg
- Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
| | - Christopher Bronk Ramsey
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, Oxford University, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK
| | - Samantha Sanft
- Department of Anthropology, 261 McGraw Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4601, USA
| | - Peter Steier
- University of Vienna, VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, Isotope Research and Nuclear Physics, Währinger Straße 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Eva M. Wild
- University of Vienna, VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, Isotope Research and Nuclear Physics, Währinger Straße 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
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9
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Pearson CL, Brewer PW, Brown D, Heaton TJ, Hodgins GWL, Jull AJT, Lange T, Salzer MW. Annual radiocarbon record indicates 16th century BCE date for the Thera eruption. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaar8241. [PMID: 30116779 PMCID: PMC6093623 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aar8241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/11/2018] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The mid-second millennium BCE eruption of Thera (Santorini) offers a critically important marker horizon to synchronize archaeological chronologies of the Aegean, Egypt, and the Near East and to anchor paleoenvironmental records from ice cores, speleothems, and lake sediments. Precise and accurate dating for the event has been the subject of many decades of research. Using calendar-dated tree rings, we created an annual resolution radiocarbon time series 1700-1500 BCE to validate, improve, or more clearly define the limitations for radiocarbon calibration of materials from key eruption contexts. Results show an offset from the international radiocarbon calibration curve, which indicates a shift in the calibrated age range for Thera toward the 16th century BCE. This finding sheds new light on the long-running debate focused on a discrepancy between radiocarbon (late 17th-early 16th century BCE) and archaeological (mid 16th-early 15th century BCE) dating evidence for Thera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte L. Pearson
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Corresponding author.
| | - Peter W. Brewer
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - David Brown
- School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Timothy J. Heaton
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Gregory W. L. Hodgins
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - A. J. Timothy Jull
- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Isotope Climatology Research Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Todd Lange
- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Matthew W. Salzer
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
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10
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Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0157144. [PMID: 27409585 PMCID: PMC4943651 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 05/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
500 years of ancient Near Eastern history from the earlier second millennium BCE, including such pivotal figures as Hammurabi of Babylon, Šamši-Adad I (who conquered Aššur) and Zimrilim of Mari, has long floated in calendar time subject to rival chronological schemes up to 150+ years apart. Texts preserved on clay tablets provide much information, including some astronomical references, but despite 100+ years of scholarly effort, chronological resolution has proved impossible. Documents linked with specific Assyrian officials and rulers have been found and associated with archaeological wood samples at Kültepe and Acemhöyük in Turkey, and offer the potential to resolve this long-running problem. Here we show that previous work using tree-ring dating to place these timbers in absolute time has fundamental problems with key dendrochronological crossdates due to small sample numbers in overlapping years and insufficient critical assessment. To address, we have integrated secure dendrochronological sequences directly with radiocarbon (14C) measurements to achieve tightly resolved absolute (calendar) chronological associations and identify the secure links of this tree-ring chronology with the archaeological-historical evidence. The revised tree-ring-sequenced 14C time-series for Kültepe and Acemhöyük is compatible only with the so-called Middle Chronology and not with the rival High, Low or New Chronologies. This finding provides a robust resolution to a century of uncertainty in Mesopotamian chronology and scholarship, and a secure basis for construction of a coherent timeframe and history across the Near East and East Mediterranean in the earlier second millennium BCE. Our re-dating also affects an unusual tree-ring growth anomaly in wood from Porsuk, Turkey, previously tentatively associated with the Minoan eruption of the Santorini volcano. This tree-ring growth anomaly is now directly dated ~1681–1673 BCE (68.2% highest posterior density range), ~20 years earlier than previous assessments, indicating that it likely has no association with the subsequent Santorini volcanic eruption.
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11
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England P, Howell A, Jackson J, Synolakis C. Palaeotsunamis and tsunami hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2015; 373:rsta.2014.0374. [PMID: 26392624 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2014.0374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/08/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The dominant uncertainties in assessing tsunami hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean are attached to the location of the sources. Reliable historical reports exist for five tsunamis associated with earthquakes at the Hellenic plate boundary, including two that caused widespread devastation. Because most of the relative motion across this boundary is aseismic, however, the modern record of seismicity provides little or no information about the faults that are likely to generate such earthquakes. Independent geological and geophysical observations of two large historical to prehistorical earthquakes, in Crete and Rhodes, lead to a coherent framework in which large to great earthquakes occurred not on the subduction boundary, but on reverse faults within the overlying crust. We apply this framework to the less complete evidence from the remainder of the Hellenic plate boundary zone, identifying candidate sources for future tsunamigenic earthquakes. Each such source poses a significant hazard to the North African coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. Because modern rates of seismicity are irrelevant to slip on the tsunamigenic faults, and because historical and geological data are too sparse, there is no reliable basis for a probabilistic assessment of this hazard, and a precautionary approach seems advisable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip England
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Andrew Howell
- Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
| | - James Jackson
- Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
| | - Costas Synolakis
- School of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Crete, Greece Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2531, USA
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12
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Wardle K, Higham T, Kromer B. Dating the end of the Greek Bronze Age: a robust radiocarbon-based chronology from Assiros Toumba. PLoS One 2014; 9:e106672. [PMID: 25222862 PMCID: PMC4164355 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Over 60 recent analyses of animal bones, plant remains, and building timbers from Assiros in northern Greece form an unique series from the 14th to the 10th century BC. With the exception of Thera, the number of 14C determinations from other Late Bronze Age sites in Greece has been small and their contribution to chronologies minimal. The absolute dates determined for Assiros through Bayesian modelling are both consistent and unexpected, since they are systematically earlier than the conventional chronologies of southern Greece by between 70 and 100 years. They have not been skewed by reference to assumed historical dates used as priors. They support high rather than low Iron Age chronologies from Spain to Israel where the merits of each are fiercely debated but remain unresolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth Wardle
- Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Thomas Higham
- Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Bernd Kromer
- Akademie der Wissenschaften Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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13
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Abstract
AbstractThis article concerns a series of 20 samples submitted for AMS radiocarbon dating from historic sites in the Libyan Sahara. The sites had been identified initially from remote sensing analysis, then visited on the ground in 2011 and organic samples suitable for a dating programme obtained. With the help of an award from the NERC-AHRC National Radiocarbon Facility, this initial suite of dates has been provided. The results are important in several ways. They demonstrate very clearly that settlement in this hyper-arid desert landscape reached its densest pattern in the late Garamantian era, broadly the fourth-fifth centuries AD. In the Islamic era that followed, though the overall population appears less dense, our dates throw light on several possible phases of settlement renewal.
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Ancient pests: the season of the Santorini Minoan volcanic eruption and a date from insect chitin. Naturwissenschaften 2013; 100:683-9. [PMID: 23793358 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-013-1068-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2013] [Revised: 05/10/2013] [Accepted: 05/24/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Grant KM, Rohling EJ, Bar-Matthews M, Ayalon A, Medina-Elizalde M, Ramsey CB, Satow C, Roberts AP. Rapid coupling between ice volume and polar temperature over the past 150,000 years. Nature 2012; 491:744-7. [DOI: 10.1038/nature11593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 390] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Brasier MD, Matthewman R, McMahon S, Wacey D. Pumice as a remarkable substrate for the origin of life. ASTROBIOLOGY 2011; 11:725-735. [PMID: 21879814 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2010.0546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The context for the emergence of life on Earth sometime prior to 3.5 billion years ago is almost as big a puzzle as the definition of life itself. Hitherto, the problem has largely been addressed in terms of theoretical and experimental chemistry plus evidence from extremophile habitats like modern hydrothermal vents and meteorite impact structures. Here, we argue that extensive rafts of glassy, porous, and gas-rich pumice could have had a significant role in the origin of life and provided an important habitat for the earliest communities of microorganisms. This is because pumice has four remarkable properties. First, during eruption it develops the highest surface-area-to-volume ratio known for any rock type. Second, it is the only known rock type that floats as rafts at the air-water interface and then becomes beached in the tidal zone for long periods of time. Third, it is exposed to an unusually wide variety of conditions, including dehydration. Finally, from rafting to burial, it has a remarkable ability to adsorb metals, organics, and phosphates as well as to host organic catalysts such as zeolites and titanium oxides. These remarkable properties now deserve to be rigorously explored in the laboratory and the early rock record.
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Bronk Ramsey C, Dee MW, Rowland JM, Higham TFG, Harris SA, Brock F, Quiles A, Wild EM, Marcus ES, Shortland AJ. Radiocarbon-based chronology for dynastic Egypt. Science 2010; 328:1554-7. [PMID: 20558717 DOI: 10.1126/science.1189395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
The historical chronologies for dynastic Egypt are based on reign lengths inferred from written and archaeological evidence. These floating chronologies are linked to the absolute calendar by a few ancient astronomical observations, which remain a source of debate. We used 211 radiocarbon measurements made on samples from short-lived plants, together with a Bayesian model incorporating historical information on reign lengths, to produce a chronology for dynastic Egypt. A small offset (19 radiocarbon years older) in radiocarbon levels in the Nile Valley is probably a growing-season effect. Our radiocarbon data indicate that the New Kingdom started between 1570 and 1544 B.C.E., and the reign of Djoser in the Old Kingdom started between 2691 and 2625 B.C.E.; both cases are earlier than some previous historical estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Bronk Ramsey
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik J. Bruins
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Sede Boker Campus, 84990, Israel
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Steinhauser G, Sterba JH, Oren E, Foster M, Bichler M. Provenancing of archeological pumice finds from North Sinai. Naturwissenschaften 2010; 97:403-10. [PMID: 20135300 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-010-0645-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2009] [Revised: 12/29/2009] [Accepted: 01/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Seven pumice samples from excavations in North Sinai have been investigated with respect to their geochemical composition. This type of volcanic rock has been used as an abrasive and thus has been an object of trade since antiquity. With the help of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, six of these Bronze Age samples could be correlated to their volcanic sources on the islands of Santorini, Nisyros and Giali (Greece) using the typical element concentrations ("chemical fingerprint"). The source of one pumice sample remains unidentified excluding, however, the Santorini eruption as a possible source. The concluding section of this article discusses the possible contribution, however indirect, of the pumice from Sinai and elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean to the controversial issue of the accurate date of the "Minoan" eruption of Santorini.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Steinhauser
- Atominstitut, Vienna University of Technology, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria.
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Siklósy Z, Demény A, Vennemann TW, Pilet S, Kramers J, Leél-Ossy S, Bondár M, Shen CC, Hegner E. Bronze Age volcanic event recorded in stalagmites by combined isotope and trace element studies. RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY : RCM 2009; 23:801-808. [PMID: 19219896 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.3943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Stable isotope analyses of speleothems (carbonate deposits formed in caves) have been widely used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. Recent improvements in geochemical techniques have enabled us to analyze climate-influenced deposits at high temporal resolution so that hitherto unrecognized environmental conditions may be identified. Stable H, C and O isotope analyses on carbonate and inclusion water have been combined with multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) age dating and laser-ablation ICP-MS trace element analyses on a stalagmite from southern Hungary. The study reveals significant changes in chemical and isotopic compositions of the speleothem between approx. 3800 and 3500 years BP ('Before Present') indicating coupled changes in the temperature and precipitation regime under which the speleothem formed. Stable isotopic and trace element correlations within this time period correlate with similar studies of stalagmites of comparable age from the Alpine-Mediterranean region. Our studies suggest that traces of deposition of volcanic dust, possibly related to the Thera eruption of Santorini (Greece) ca. 1650 BC (approximately 3650 BP), and environmental changes can be detected at a distance of several thousand kilometers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoltán Siklósy
- Institute for Geochemical Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budaörsi út 45, H-1112 Budapest, Hungary
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Vinther BM, Clausen HB, Johnsen SJ, Rasmussen SO, Steffensen JP, Andersen KK, Buchardt SL, Dahl-Jensen D, Seierstad IK, Svensson AM, Siggaard-Andersen ML, Olsen J, Heinemeier J. Reply to comment by J. S. Denton and N. J. G. Pearce on “A synchronized dating of three Greenland ice cores throughout the Holocene”. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007jd009083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Denton JS, Pearce NJG. Comment on “A synchronized dating of three Greenland ice cores throughout the Holocene” by B. M. Vinther et al.: No Minoan tephra in the 1642 B.C. layer of the GRIP ice core. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007jd008970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Trevisanato SI. Medical papyri describe the effects of the Santorini eruption on human health, and date the eruption to August 1603-March 1601 BC. Med Hypotheses 2006; 68:446-9. [PMID: 17010531 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2006.06.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2006] [Accepted: 06/21/2006] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Egyptian medical papyri date the Santorini eruption, and reconcile the hitherto perceived dichotomy between archaeological/historical and scientific data. The medical documentation describes ailments, which can only have arisen from a volcanic source: ash fallout, rain acidified by ash, and a plume. Furthermore, the Egypt described by the medical texts matches the one in the series of so-called biblical plagues. This match in turn provides the length of time, 19 months, between the initial and final phases of the eruption, each phase contributing to the otherwise odd accumulation of sulfates spread over two consecutive biennia (1603-1600 BC) in Greenland's ice core. As a result, the initial phase of the eruption can be dated to August 21, 1603 BC, and the final one to March 1601 BC, in full agreement with the radiocarbon data (1627-1600 BC) based on the outermost ring on the branch of an olive tree killed by the eruption.
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